Puppet for stop-motion technique



u 9,1950 L..BUNlN 2,520,491

PUPPET FOR STOP-MOTION TECHNIQUE Filed Jan. 3, 1945 INVENTOR [0am uzzmBY ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 29, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF ICEPUPPETFORJSTOP-MOTIGN 'TEGHNHQUEF Louis:Bunin, Los Angeles, Califl,

Application iianuary 3, 1945;SeriahNoJ'7-ig185 This invention relates topuppets used in the production of animated moving pictures by so.-called,stop-motiontechnique. In the production of such: animatedpictures it has been found advantageous to use puppets to effect the;desired seriesof increments of motion, instead of making use ofsuccessive (drawings, for the reason that the successive framesaof thepicture can "be filmed from puppets in changed position in less, timeand with less labor than is required for the .pro duction of successivedrawings. Also puppet sets give a better three-dimensional effect, thando drawings.

It is 'anobject of the invention to provide a puppet having an eyestructure which may be manually adjusted to any position within therange of natural eye movement without the necessity of special mechanismwithin the puppet head.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a puppet having an.eyeball and an eyelid. which are capable of independent adjustment toany desirable position relative to each other and to the surroundingparts of the head.

It is a further object of the invention to improve the mode ofattachment of eyelashes to the eyelid to obtain durability and naturalappearance.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a distortablepuppet head having improved eye sockets adapted to cooperate withmovable eyeballs and eyelids.

Other objects and details of the, invention will appear in the followingdescription wherein I have disclosed the best form in which I havecontemplated applying my invention.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a clay pattern for the production of themold used in the casting of a distortable, hollow puppet head pursuantto the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the mold, showing manner of attaching acore for the eyeball socket;

Fi 3 is a view of the puppet head in profile section, a portion of theline of section being oflfsetto pass through one of the eye sockets;

Fig. 4' is a fragmentary perspective view showing; the eyeball andeyelid assembled the socket, certain parts being indicated in dotted lins :1

Fig. 5 is; an elevational View of a, ball from which the eyeball ismade;

Fig; 6 is a front elevation of the eyeball. Eigs. 7 and 8: are sideelevations, partially in 5 Claims. (CL, 46-.168

2 section, illustrating the relation to each other of the 1 eyeball and.the eyelid;

Fig. 9 is asectional view of apparatus which maybe used to,- shapeeyelid parts; and

Fig. 1-0 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of eyelidwherein the lashes are attached :solely by means of solder or otheradhesive.

In the puppet, head in which my invention .is embodied a molded rubberenvelope 5 is made in any desired shape and with any desired features,which envelope has such stretching characteristics as may be suitable tothe particular purposeior whichthehead .is intended, as has beendescribed insmy Batent- 2,237,751 granted April 1941.. The headdisclosed is a human head; but the same principles areapplicable toother than humanior example, animals, birds, bugs, or .fancifulcharacters. In the production of the head, I make the envelope 5 ofrubber or like material in substantially the manner described inmypatentbefore mentioned, using an image or pattern l, of clay or othermaterial. In forming the clay pattern .I, I place, in the position ofthe eyes-balls; 240i a size corresponding to the eyeballs. I, of. the,finished. head, shaping. the pattern thereabout, as shown in Fig. 1. Theballs .2. may be made of any suitable material, including wood, .metal,and synthetic materials.

From the image or pattern 1,, I, then form a split plaster of paris mold.3.; and when the mold has been .formed from the pattern the mold hastwo internal spherically concave .areas .3 therein corresppnding to. thesurface of the eyes in thepattern, To. these concave areas 3, I cementtwo plaster of paris balls 4,. .of the same size as balls 2. .Balls 4constitute cores for the eye sockets. 6., in the head 5 .tobe. cast inthe mold,

Tor cast a distortableand flexible puppet head irom themold the, mold isinverted from the position shown inFig. 2 and is. then filled withlatex. .Ehe latex is allowed to stand until a sufficient quantitythereof has congealed upon the inner surtaceof the mold to constitutethe ruhberskin ot head 5, having the desired thickness. 'l heuncongealedlatex remaining-after the shin has-formed is then poured outof the mold;

and after the skin, it of selfevu-loanizing; charis thus provided withintegral spherical eye sockets '5 adapted to receive the eyeballs thatare to be inserted therein.

While for most purposes I prefer to use a split mold as shown in Fig. 2,I may, in lieu thereof, use a one-piece mold prepared in any suitableway known to the art. Since the rubber skin is collapsible, it lendsitself to stripping from a onepiece mold; and to loosen the skin fromthe mold, jets of compressed air may be projected between the skin andthe mold.

By the term rubber I do not limit myself to natural rubber, but refer toall artificial or synthetic rubbers as well as substitutes therefor.

Each socket 6 is of such size as to exert elastic tension on theinserted assembly of eyeball and lid. Thus, the socket exerts a slightconstrictive grip upon the eyeball and eyelid, and both the eyeball andeyelid are thereby frictionally restrained to maintain any position intowhich they may be manually adjusted.

The eyeball l, is a sphere colored or painted to resemble a naturaleyeball, with a pupil 8 and an iris 9. Through the pupil a radial holeI!) is drilled extending partially, but not entirely through the sphere.This hole constitutes a socket into which an eye-adjusting tool such asa pin H may be inserted to enable turning the eyeball to variouspositions in the socket, such as indicated in Fig. 8. Since the hole ldoes not extend entirely through the eyeball, the inserted end of thepin or other instrument cannot come into contact with the lid or socketwall and thus interfere with the free movement of the eyehave provenwell adapted to the wear and tear of puppet use in stop motion techniquewherein hundreds, and even thousands, of changes in eyelid position maybe required of a single puppet employed in the enactment of asingldrama.

Each eyelid is composed of two hemispherical shells, l4 and I5, betweenwhich are held the ends of the lash-constituting.filaments !3.

The layers l4, E of the lid may be secured together in any way as bycementing. The eyelash filaments 13 are first disposed in spacedrelation along what will constitute the exposed forward edge thereof andare cemented down in this arrangement. The second shell 15 is thencemented onto the lashes l3 and the first shell l4, thus forming atwo-ply lid with eyelashes which appear to grow out from its very edge.The filaments for the lashes may consist of metal, fiber, plastic,natural hair, textile fringe, or other material suitable for theparticular purposes and effects contemplated.

Where eyelids of great durability are desired, the shells l4, 15 maybeconstructed of drawn copper or brass and the lashes l3 may be formed offine Phosphor-bronze wire terminally secured between the shells by sweatsoldering in the manner depicted in Fig. 8. Such nested metallic shellsM, !5 may be readily simultaneously drawn from fiat stock by placing thesheet metal blanks l8, l9 therefor upon a block N5 of lead and forcing ahardened steel ball I! into the blanks and block, as indicated by Fig.9. The ball I! may be so forced by means of hammer blows or by means ofa press. After the drawin operation, the substantially hemisphericalshells l4, !5 are cut out from the blanks l8, l9 and are trimmed andpolished to remove rough spots and sharp edges 4 which might tend toabrade the eyeball 1 or eyesocket 6.

A simpler eyelid structure may be produced through the use of a singleshell H4 to the extreme edge portion of which lashes H3 are secured in arow of suitable extent by solder or cement. This shell H4, like thosel4, 15 for the two-ply lid may, if desired, be formed by procedure otherthan drawingfor example by molding, casting or spinning methods.

To install the eyes and lids in the eye sockets 6 of the rubber head,the lid l2 or H2 is first placed upon the eyeball l as indicated inFigs. '7 and 8. This assembly is then forced into the eyesocket '5 bystretching its opening. Installed, the eyeball and lid takes on thelifelike appearance shown in Fig. 4.

To adjust the position of each eyeball I, a pin ll may be temporarilyinserted into the drilled pupil hole In thereof, which pin may then beemployed as a lever by which the eye may be readily turned to anyselected position. To move the eyelid to any desired degree of closure,independent of the pupil position, the lashes 13 may be grasped by thefingers of the operator and used as a handle. It will be understood,thus, that independent adjustments of the eyeball and eyelid arepossible in an infinite variability enabling the simulation of allnatural eye eifects indicative of human and animal emotions.

The rubber of socket 6 takes a relatively strong frictional hold on boththe eyeball 1 and the lid 12 or H2. On the other hand, the frictionbetween the eyebfl and the eyelid can be limited to a relatively smallvalue, these parts being made of metal or like material. Thus, theeyeball and the eyelid can each be independently adjusted, without theadjusted eyeball position being disturbed by adjustive movement of theeyelid, and vice versa.

Having thus fully described my invention in compliance with the patentstatutes, what I claim is:

1. A puppet head having an elastically expansible spherical eye socketprovided with an eye opening in the puppet face, an eye-simulating ballmember rotatably disposed within said spherical socket, snuglyfrictionally engaged by the elastic wall thereof and having thepupilsimulating portion of its surface exposed'through said opening, andan eyelid member comprising a thin shell of spherical curvaturecomplementarily interposed between said ball member and said socket,having greater surface area than said opening and lesser surface arethan the spherical wall of said socket and having a higher coeflicientof friction with said socket wall than with said ball member so as toenable independent selective adjustment of said shell and said ballmember with respect to said socket.

2. A puppet head having an elastically expansible spherical eye socketprovided with an eye opening in the puppet face, an eye-simulating ballmember rotatably disposed within said spherical socket, snuglyfrictionally engaged by the elasticwall thereof and having thepupilsimulating portion of its surface exposed through said opening, aneyelid member comprising a thin shell of spherical curvaturecomplementarily interposed between said ball member and said socket,having greater surface area than said opening and lesser surface areathan the spherical wall of said socket and having a higher coefficientof friction with said socket wall than with said ball member so as toenable independent selective adjustment of said shell and said ballmember with respect to said socket, said ball member being provided witha bore substantially coincident with a radius through thepupilsimulating portion of the surface thereof exposed by said openingfor reception of a lever to effect rotative adjustment of said ballmember relative to said eye socket, and eye-lash simulating means on theforward edge of said shell, extending through said opening and havingsufiicient extent and attachment thereto to enable use as alid-adjusting instrumentality.

3. A puppet head having an elastically expansible spherical eye socketprovided with an eye opening in the puppet face, an eye-simulating ba1lmember rotatably disposed within said spherical socket, snuglyfrictionally engaged by the elastic wall thereof and having thepupilsimulating portion of its surface exposed through said opening, aneyelid member comprising a thin laminated shell of spherical curvaturecomplementarily interposed between said ball memher and said socket,having greater surface area than said opening and lesser surface areathan the spherical wall of said socket and having a higher coeflicientof friction with said socket wall than with said ball member so as toenable independent selective adjustment of said shell and said ballmember with respect to said socket, and means for effecting saidindependent selective adjustment of said eyelid comprisingeyelashsimulating means terminall interposed between and secured tolamina of said shell and extending through said socket opening in thepuppet face.

4. In a, puppet head, a spherical puppet eyeball having an eyelidcomprising a part of a hollow sphere conforming to said eyeball andmovable relative thereto, said eyeball and eyelid being mounted in aspherical socket and movable independently therein, both the eyeball andthe eyelid being frictionally held in said socket against inadvertentmovement.

5. A puppet head having a socket for a spherical eyeball, a movablespherical eyeball frictionally held against inadvertent movement in saidsocket, an eyelid comprising a portion of a hollow sphere conforming tosaid eyeball and to said socket and independently movable relative tosaid eyeball and to said socket, and means for manually moving both saideyeball and said eyelid relative to said socket.

LOUIS BUNIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,294,592 Zaiden Feb. 18, 19191,352,047 Boje, Jr. Sept. 7, 1920 1,432,205 Petrow Oct. 17, 19221,433,901 Marcus Oct. 31, 1922 1,790,743 Christensen Feb. 3, 19311,807,091 Pollack May 26, 1931 1,981,333 Schavoir Nov. 20, 19342,039,928 Popovich May 5, 1936 2,161,281 Carter June 6, 1939 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 30,237 Denmark Sept. 11, 1922 32,937 GermanySept. 8, 1885

